Chapter Text
It was the quiet hours in the café. The few hours between after people have grabbed their morning coffees and before the lunch time jam would start. Somebody was working with their laptop at the table near the window, but otherwise the coffee shop was empty. Jaehee was standing behind the counter practicing latte art and you were sitting in front of her on a bar stool sipping your own latte. It was pleasant to have some alone time with Jaehee, most of the day you were surrounded by customers and too busy to pay any attention to each other. Even when you were alone with her, its feels like all you ever talk about these days is just business stuff. You used to have so much fun with long mid night calls and fangirling over Zen in the RFA chatroom. As much as you adored being a part of Jaehee’s dream of owning a café and it’s honestly was the best job you ever had, sometimes you missed how things used to be. Even when you saw each other every day, it felt like there were less actual communication between you two than it was when Jaehee was working for Jumin and you still stayed at Rika’s place.
Sure, it was true that you both were too busy most of the day to actually talk with each other and too tired after you closed the coffee shop at evening, but moments like this one right now… There was really no reason not to just bond over girl talk or something. Well, here goes, you thought, and started “Hey Jaehee, what are you making?” She looked up from her mug of latte art of making and smiled at you: “Well, I was trying to make Makkachin but I think I screwed up”. You bended over the counter for better look. “Aaww, so cute! That’s totally looks like Makkachin!”, you cheered as you viewed illustration of fluffy poodle head on the milk foam. “You are too kind!”, she grinned at you, “it definitely needs more practise”. She picked up her phone to take a picture of the said latte art. Maybe she would post it in café’s Instagram account, even though she wasn’t quite happy with it. But you weren’t done with the conversation just yet.
“Jaehee, do you remember when we got stuck in the storage room and Yoosung had to come to release us?”, you asked. “Yeah, of course, it was few weeks ago at valentine’s day, was it?”, she ensured with a smile. “Yeah, so funny! At the time I was anxious that we would burn the cake, but it was actually really nice”, you said. “Yeah?”, she asked. “Yeah, it was good to take a break from work and share an honest conversation.” “It really was”, she smiled sweetly at you and continued with more serious expression on her face: “I guess we haven’t really had quality time together after the coffee shop opened”. You were about to say something but she continued: “I really love working with you and this place is my literal dream come true, but sometimes I miss how we used to be… Before we started seeing each other every day at work”. “Oh my god! I was just thinking the exact same”, you called out. Jaehee looked amused by your excited reaction. “I guess I don’t have reasons to call you for support every evening now that Jumin isn’t driving me at the fringe of burn out”, she laughed. “Well yeah”, you said, “now that running this place is the only thing happening in both of our lives, I guess it makes sense that we only talk about work these days”. She looked at you with mildly concerned look at her face, but was it was cut short by the bell over the door. Jaehee walked to the cash register to serve the customer walking in.
You didn’t see each other much for the rest of the day. Jaehee worked behind the counter to serve the customers while you run the dishwasher in the kitchen and did some paper work at the office. Soon it was time to close the place for today. You collected the last mugs and plates from the tables while Jaehee was closing the cash register. You loaded the dish washer for last round for today and walked to Jaehee who was sweeping the floor with a broom. You approached her from behind and put your hand on her shoulder and asked “Is there something I should do before we can close the doors?” “Not really”, she replied, “we can leave as soon as I’m done with this”. You sit down in the bar stool for moment to wait, it really had been a long day and your legs were tired from standing up the whole day. Jaehee glanced at you over her shoulder: “are you tired?” “A bit, I guess”, you answered honestly. Jaehee freezed at the floor holding a broom still in her hands. You wondered if she’s ok, but then she turned around to look at you. You could see concerned look on her face when she started: “Mc, you are good friend, really the best I ever had. I don’t know what I did to deserve you. You always only think about my best interest… And I know this coffee shop was my dream…” She had a puzzled look on her face when she struggled to vocalize her thoughts. “You really don’t have to work here if its too tiring for you, or this is not the future you imagined to yourself.”
Oh my god, where was this coming all the sudden? You walked to her and laid both of your hands on her shoulders and sighed “Oh dear…” “Of course I want to work here, with you, on a company I partly own”. You locked eyes with her and corner of your mouth started to twitch up. “Don’t be silly, dear”. Jaehee looked like she was about to burst at tears but she bursted at laugh instead and splurged: “I’m sorry. I guess I was being bit irrational. I just sometimes have this fear that people don’t actually like me and only hang out with me from some sort of feeling of obligation”. “Jaehee, its ok”, you hugged her, “I like working in here, even though I’m tired at the end of days, its normal and I can handle it. To be honest, I would work anywhere, even in a dump, if I only was working with you”. Jaehee bursted out little laugh, but you continued with all seriousness: “I really, really like you”. Jaehee bend to give you a little kiss on the cheek which made your hard beat faster. “I really value our friendship”, she said quietly to your ear. Her warm breath on your ear made you feel dizzy. But you weren’t a fan of all this friendship talk. You had no idea how more obvious you needed to be to make her realize your feeling weren’t purely platonic. And you could bet your ass hers wasn’t either! You were quite sure if she hadn’t realized it herself yet but no change her feeling were purely platonic either. Maybe it was the fact that Jaehee really haven’t had a close friend before that she can’t see that stuff that goes between you two isn’t something that is usually associated with being just friends. You wanted to ask her if she have had feelings toward other women earlier. You wanted to make it as clear as you possibly could that you are in love with her and you want to be more than just a friend. But at the same time you were afraid. Afraid that you would scare her of, that this what you have now will be ruined. Because, even if it was being just friends, it was so much better than living without her.
Jaehee locked the door and you walked towards metro station and chatted about Zen’s upcoming role. "We should go see it at the premiere”, Jaehee suggested. “Can we really, shouldn’t we be at the café?”, you were excited about it but also bit skeptical. “Sure, the shows usually starts pretty late so we only need to close up couple hours before we normally would”, she look at you to ensure you it’s really ok, “besides, we really have earned one free night!” “Well, we sure have. I’m looking forward to a theater night with you”, you smiled and looked her in the eyes. “Do you think Zen can invite us to the premiere party?”, she started to blabber excited.